Mariner LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Mariner LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,054,275 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,144 shares during the period. Mariner LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Mplx worth $50,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $49.53 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $50.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $39.56 and a 1-year high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.